Historic mansion to display rare Lincoln portraits

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- Visitors to the David Davis Mansion and State Historic Site will soon have the chance to view two rare portraits of a great American president.

Paintings of Abraham Lincoln by Edward Dalton Marchant and Alban Conant were loaned to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency for temporary exhibits...

"We're very excited because the (Marchant) portrait hasn't been out on exhibit that much," said site manager Marcia Young, explaining the portrait was found in storage at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, then displayed for a short time at Morris Library...

Young said historians believe Marchant's portrait of Lincoln may have served as a model for his most famous portrait, the Union League of Philadelphia, which he painted in 1863 to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation.

The portrait shows a sitting Lincoln. The background shows a broken chain wrapped around a pillar, which symbolizes the end of slavery.